


If You Choose To Accept It

by TheCaptainBriarRose



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-01-11 01:05:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18419636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCaptainBriarRose/pseuds/TheCaptainBriarRose
Summary: Here is you mission, if you choose to accept it.Marinette and Adrien were always meant to meet, one way or another.





	1. Another Day, Another Job

The contacts made her eyes a bright, almost neon like blue. She straightened her black banged strait-haired wig that fell to her shoulders and pinned it more securely in place and then turned on her earpiece and checked the volume.

“Testing. Testing. Can you hear me alright?”

“I hear you loud and clear Marinette.” T.I.K.I. said.

Armed with gadgets and nerves high, Marinette was ready to exit the building. She had stepped into a local library just a few blocks down from her target to change.

“Okay, I'll give you the directions one more time. Enter the hotel through the employee entrance on the north side of the building. Once inside, you will want to turn right immediately and head up the stairs to the 21st floor. Once you are almost there I will give you further instructions.”

Marinette stayed to the shadows as she rounded the next corner. With the hotel in sight she had to stay out of view of anyone entering in or out of the building.

She could see colorful flashing lights coming from the lobby. “Tikki, what’s going on in the lobby?”

“There seems to be some kind of event planned for tonight that we were unaware of. Be cautious, security will probably be even tighter.”

Marinette circled the building to the north side. There was a security guard standing right next to the employee entrance. Marinette thought for a moment. She could take the guard out easily but if they found him just laying there or discovered he wasn’t at his post they would immediately investigate.

Just then, a young woman stepped out wearing what must have been the staff uniform for the event, a sequined red, low cut top with a rather short black pencil skirt. The woman was holding a few trash bags and was headed right for Marinette.

Marinette quickly moved back around the corner and took a few steps towards the wall till she was up against it. She reached down to her belt and sprayed a light blue liquid onto her hand.

As the woman rounded the corner, Marinette grabbed her head and quickly put her hand over the woman's mouth. Her eyes got large before they closed softly. Marinette proceed with her improvised entrance plan.

 

**************

  
As Marinette passed the guard, she hoped he wouldn’t notice the change in hair and eye color from the woman who had been wearing the uniform earlier. Obviously, security wasn’t as tight as she was expecting because the guard didn’t even shift his gaze.

As she stepped inside she immediately headed to the right and tried to pull down the much too short skirt she had taken from the young woman. It was definitely a Bourgeois fashion choice, though it was one of the more out there ones.

Marinette always felt bad doing things like that to people but she had given the young woman her jacket and slipped a little note and $100 in the pocket in case she woke up. Plus, the girl had been wearing, rather small, shorts under her skirt. She’d be fine.

“Okay, now our sources say that the chip was put into one of the hardware drives on the 21st floor. If we are able to find it fast enough we will be able to follow it back to its source. Think you're up to the challenge?”

“Always”

As she climbed, she grabbed a small device from her belt and watched the small purple light flash. It was on the 21st floor as predicted, and it was still active, good. The longer it’s on, the more likely they will be able to trace it back.

Marinette looked up to see that she was passing the door to floor 20. She looked back down at the tracker to see that the flashing had stopped. The chip was no longer sending a signal.

Marinette broke into a sprint and ran onto the 21st floor. She looked to her left to see a figure, dressed in all black in the closing elevator. She only had time to see his silver tipped shoes as the doors slipped closed.

Hoping he had nothing to do with the chip she opened the door to the hardware room and quickly found the panel the chip was supposed to be in. Pulling out the panel, there was no purple in sight.

She quickly scanned the panel to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. The chip was gone, and in its place was a small neon green metal plate with a single black paw print.


	2. Mission... Somewhat Complete

Marinette looked up suddenly as the door crashed open.  
“He ran in here! I know it!” The bratty voice belonged to a Bourgeois, there was no doubt about that.   
Marinette moved towards the door and as soon as the team was far enough into the room, she made a run for the hall. She ran around the corner to the right and found an open window.  
Jumping through, she shot her grappling hook towards the roof. She quickly sped down towards the ground, only slowing when she was ruffly 5 feet from impact. As she ran around the building she flung the mechanism just enough to shake it from it’s hold.  
Pulling it back in she ran around the corner to where she had left the young woman. After switching the clothes back and sliding the note and money into the girls small pocket on her apron, she shook her awake.  
“Are you okay?” Marinette asked with a concerned face.  
“Um. I think so. I don’t quite remember what happened.” The young woman replied.  
“Well, if you’re sure you're alright. Is there anything I can help you with?”  
The young woman looked down at her outfit and her eyes got large. “I need to get back to work!” She exclaimed as she ran towards the backdoor.  
***  
Marinette took the long way home. Turning the metal plate around in her hand as she walked farther and farther from the hotel.  
“Marinette, are you still alive?” A voice said in her ear.  
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Her words were slow. She honestly wasn’t paying much attention to T.I.K.I.  
As she ran her fingers over the edge she found that one of the edges wasn’t as smooth as the others. Looking closely, she was able to make out four letters.  
“Um Tikki, do you recognize the acronym P.L.A.G. ?”  
“Marinette, where did you hear that?”  
“I, um, read it, on this metal plate, that was in the hardware panel.”  
“I’m going to need you to give me a complete rundown of the mission, and I'll need you to send me that plate.”  
“What is it Tikki? Should I be worried?”  
“No, just let me know if you see it again okay. Now, what happened?”  
Marinette explained everything. How she got in, tracking and then losing the signal, finding the plate. She even mentioned the person in the elevator, though she couldn’t really see that making a difference, she didn’t even see his face. She was even pretty sure that he hadn’t even noticed her.  
“We will have to be quicker next time.” T.I.K.I. said as Marinette finished.  
Marinette slipped in the backdoor of her apartment and made her way to the bathroom. After a few unsuccessful tries, she removed the bright blue contacts and slid them into a hidden compartment behind the mirror. She removed the wig to reveal her bright red hair. Sometimes she wished she hadn’t dyed it but every time she considers dyeing it back to it’s natural black, someone talks her out of it.  
As she put away the wig and shut the mirror, she felt a vibration from her back pocket.  
“Hello?”  
“You up?”  
Marinette rolled her eyes. “What do you think?”  
“Right. Stupid question. Are you ready for tomorrow?”  
“As ready as I can be. This is just such a huge opportunity I don’t know how ready I can be.”  
“So, is the photo shoot tomorrow or-”  
“No, they are sending over the Agreste model they want me to work with so that I can get a color scheme and measurements figured out.”  
“Have you met the model yet?”  
“Nope. They said it would most likely be a male but that’s all I know.”  
“Agreste Fashion is the best in the business.”  
“I know, I’m nervous.”  
“Don’t be. Your designs are so good he’ll be begging you to take over his company.”


	3. The Wheels of Fate

Marinette waited casually in her front room. She thought about every possibility of person she could be working with.

The last model she worked with was a total flirt and a total jerk. He hated the designs, wanted to go shirtless the whole time and arrived late to every shoot. Of coarse, he hadn’t been an Agreste model so she was hoping this would be a better experience.

She reached for the folder that held the rules of the competition. There were only five designers that had been approved to compete and she was the only one not currently working with a professional company.

The only thing she could do now was try her best and hope Gabriel Agreste didn’t hate her after this.

The knock at the door startled Marinette. The packet flew from her hand, slid onto a table in the corner of the room, knocking over a lamp which Marinette flung herself underneath to catch.

Wiping herself off, Marinette walked to the door.

“Hello. Are you Miss Dupain-Cheng?”

Marinette looked up. “Yes, and you must be- OH MY GOSH! You’re Adrien Agreste! They sent me Adrien Agreste! This is amazing! No wait! This is so much worse! So, so much worse. You’re famous! I can’t design for someone like you! Oh, uh come in would you? I mean, would you like to come in?”

Adrien laughed, “Sure.” He looked around the room. The first floor of the apartment was smaller then any single room in his house. Even his personal bathroom was larger, but to be fair his bathroom was rather large.

“Sorry, this probably wasn’t what you were expecting.”

“I think it’s cute.”

“Well, we are going to  head up to the third floor which is where my studio is.”

“Alright.”

They walked up the set of stairs on the right side of the apartment, through Marinette's bedroom and up a latter she pulled down from the ceiling, to the third floor.

The room felt small but that was mostly because it was covered from floor to ceiling in supplies. Adrien was rather impressed. His father was big enough that he only designed the clothes, he just hired people to make them.

“So first I’m going to need to take some measurements and then a couple of pictures for reference, if that’s okay.”

“That’s just fine.”

Marinette fished a measuring tape out of one of her drawers and asked Adrien to stand on a platform by the window.

“So, Mr. Agreste. 

“Mr. Agreste is my father. Please call me Adrien.”

“Alright. Can I ask you a couple of questions? You know, just to get to know you better? If not that’s fine.”

“Oh it’s okay. Ask away.” He smiled

“Okay um, well, you've done a little bit of acting and a lot of modeling and some other things. Is modeling your favorite? It seems to be your focus.”

“Well, no. I originally wanted to become an actor. I even applied to a school in New York. But my father, well, let’s just say he had other plans. It wasn’t until after we talked that I got my acceptance letter. Obviously I had to let them I wouldn’t be attending and my spot was given to someone else.”

“Oh. I had no idea.”

“Anyways, may I ask you a question as well Miss Dupain-Cheng?”

“Arms out. Sure, and please, call me Marinette.”

“Okay Marinette. How long have you been designing for?’

“Well I technically started when I was like 8 but I didn’t do anything professionally or for any contests or anything till high school.”

“All of these designs are amazing. They’re better than anything I’ve seen my father make in a long time.”

“Thank you. Okay, Adrien. Up for another question?”

“Ask away.” Adrien could feel whatever awkward tension might have been present earlier, fade away.

“Favorite kind of cookie?”

“Oh I don’t really get to eat cookies a lot. Agreste fashion put all of their models on a pretty strict diet about three years ago. But, I remember my mom making these amazing chocolate chip cookies when I was younger.”

“Aw, that's kinda cute.”

Adrien couldn't help but blush. It had been a while since he talked to someone about anything that didn't have to do with his career.

“All done.” Marinette said. “I'll work on some designs and then maybe we can meet back up again to make adjustments.”

“That sounds great.”

“The only problem is, most of my designs are for models with black or brown hair. I'll have to create some new blond designs.”

Marinette thought about the trouble she was in as she opened the trap door to her bedroom. It could take her weeks to come up with proper designs.

“I'm sure you'll think of something.” Adrien handed her a small piece of paper. “Here's my number. Text me when you would like to meet next.”

Marinette took the paper and stepped down the latter. As they walked towards the stairs something caught her eye.

The small green metal plate, with a black paw print.

 


	4. Some People Don't Change

“Adrien, where have you been?”

“It was my free hour Nathalie, I was just out enjoying the air.” Adrien couldn't help but put a little hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“Adrien, where were you really?”

“Fine, I was with a friend.”

“Alright,” Nathalie said as she moved out of the way so he could continue up the stairs. “Your father already knows by the way. He wants to see you after he’s done with his video call.”

Adrien stopped.  _ Shoot. There goes my free hour. _ Adrien took a deep breath and continued up the stairs. He had to think about what he was going to say.

Adrien had maybe thirty seconds to himself before there was a knock at his door.

Adrien took another deep breath. “Come in,” he said.

The door slammed open. “You signed up to be a model for the competition!?!” Gabriel approached so fast that Adrien felt forced to sit down on the bed behind him. “We have first year models doing that for practice! Your schedule is to full as it is!”

“Well, you’re going to have to make room because changing models at this point would be unfair to the designer.”

Gabriel suddenly stood up taller. “What did you just say to me?”

“I said, you will have to make room in my schedule. She already took measurements and pictures and is working on designs. To change models now would be a disadvantage to her and would decrease the professional level of your little competition. Not to mention that there was nothing in the rules saying that I couldn’t participate.”

Gabriel stood there for a moment, looking at his son. His expression was unclear.

After a moment Gabriel turned, “Nathalie, make room in Adriens schedule for the competition. Take away his free hour if you need to, and make sure this contestant doesn’t embarrass my best model.”

Once her and Gabriel stepped out of the room, Nathalie shut the door but not before giving Adrien a nod, which he believed meant that she felt sorry for him. 

Adrien was sick and tired of living at home. It had been nearly two years since he signed those stupid contracts with his father. One promised he would continue modeling for Agreste Fashion for the next 15 years. The next promised that he would live at home till he was 21.

Adrien hated living at home, he couldn’t stand it; but that wasn’t the worst part of the whole situation. The worst part was that his own father was so caught up in his work that he made him sign a contract. A FREAKING CONTRACT! If his father wanted him to live at home, they could have simply sat down and talked it over but no. The day Adrien turned 18 his birthday gift was those two contracts.

His worst regret is that he signed them. He just wanted to impressed his father, get his father to show that he cared for him. But interactions with him have gotten worse. He has to schedule an appointment weeks ahead of time just to see him. Well, except for days like today where he messed up so bad that he got a whole FOUR MINUTES without an appointment. 

_ How special, _ Adrien thought. He couldn’t stop all of the sarcastic comments flowing through his head.

It had taken Adrien years to work up the courage to talk to his father like that. When he was sixteen and his mother disappeared, his father became extremely overprotective. About a year after that his father started to close himself off. It seemed as if it got worse everyday.

Adrien was used to it by now. In fact, he would be 21 in just a few months which means he would have to live in this cold house. He was so excited to move out that he was already looking for apartment options.

Just then Adrien’s watch vibrated. He grabbed the earpiece from his desk draw and secured it to his ear.

“It’s been a while.”

“It’s been like maybe 20 hours Adrien.”

“It’s called sarcasm Plagg.”

“Well why don’t you get your butt into gear and find a way out of the house. We have another hit.”

Adrien looked at his watch. “I’ve got a shoot in an hour. Am I going to have enough time?”

“Already taken care of.”

Just then a knock came at his bedroom door. “Come in.” He said.

The door creaked open and Nathalie came into view. “Your shoot has been canceled due to the photographer having a schedule conflict. We will reschedule for a later date. You have the rest of the evening to yourself.” Nathalie turned to leave. “Oh and this just arrived. It’s very last minute but because your schedule is now free you are more then welcome to go if you would like.” She set the envelope on his desk before leaving the room.

Adrien looked at the envelope a moment before looking in it.

“This will get you in.” Said P.L.A.G. “And you’ll want to wear your best suit.”

 


End file.
